Process

If there is anything I can say I learned when I was a kid was that there are hundreds of different stories. For me, I used to be obsessed by one of my favorite authors, R. A. Salvatore.  Later on, as in much more recently, I have a new obsession with author Jim Butcher and his series.  Here's the thing, both men write fantasy novels, but they go about them in different ways.  One writes traditional fantasy, while one writes contemporary fantasy.  Both are good, but both are different in the way they present their stories.  Both men show their stories in their own way, and yet both are good.

That got me thinking of the whole process of writing and all of that stuff.  Why do I write the way I do?  I have written different genres and different situations, but every time I write I have the same basic concept on how I want to write.  Yet others I talk to write in their own way.  When I read others work, I swear they either have this complex plan, or they come up with the story as they go on.  That got me thinking even more on the basic process of authors, and how they work it all out.  I guess I wanted to start out with my process and the process of others and different ideas of this whole writing thing before I started on with my actual writing.

If you look at special features on movies, some of them have a how it was made section.  Sometimes, when the movie interests me enough, I go and watch it.  There, I see story boards, and the writers acting out voices as they show the story to their fellow peers.  Yes, while they do not write books and poems and short stories and songs, they write the books which do not go into print, they write them for movies and shows, which is very similar in the basic premise.  As for me, watching them create on story boards and showing them to the others around them, I can see the ideas flowing.  I see the smiles on their faces as they present in different voices.  This is their process, story boards, a thing that I do not use, though it is a very good process in itself.

Another way to start writing is a challenge.  Jim Butcher's Codex Alera series was based off of a challenge he was presented.  To write a story off of a lame idea.  He was given two choices, the lost Roman legion, and Pokemon.  I don't know why Pokemon is in there, since Pokemon is awesome, but Butcher wrote a series which has captured the imaginations of myself and countless others.  A similar thing to challenges are requests, where another person asks you to write something for them.  For me, it has come to the idea of songfics, or fiction based off of a song.  While it isn't normally that, people have requests for song writers, authors, writers, and poets.  Some of these requests become world famous, or just friend famous.  Requests are something I have been given, but something I would love more of.

Most of the time, writers just think of an idea.  This can come from anything, media, real life, fantasies, dreams, other stories; you name it, a story has come from it.  For myself, this is one of the ones I find that I end up writing from, from an idea that has popped into my head that I cannot get out.  Now, usually, because these ideas are not for others, and only for yourself, it can have one of a few effects.  The first effect is that the writer perseveres through the story and finishes it.  More often or not, that I have seen at least, writers end up choosing the second effect.  That the story is a good idea in their head, but they can not write it, or are unwilling to finish it.  The final choice that I see is that the story is always half written, that the writer has the will to finish it, but can not finish it because the story for them can not be finished, that they are not satisfied by their result.

Now that I delayed long enough, I guess I have to reveal the process that I end up using.  I start out with an idea.  Any idea will do.  Even if it is as simple as: I walked the dog for the tenth time this morning.  After that it can go one of two ways.  The first way is that I end up writing it down, and I start writing until I become stalled.  The other way is that I end up acting it out in my head.  Inside my mind I end up acting out the story, or even outside in real life.  If it is a story using multiple characters, I end up acting with different props, getting a feel for the characters and the plot.  In fact, change that.  Every story I write I end up acting out in my head or in person, to get the feel for it.  Other than the acting, it goes straight to paper or to the computer.  Some stories I haven't written, because I want to end up acting them over and over again in my head until I am satisfied with it.  Ergo, many of my stories are in my head, and no where else.  Then again, other stories I have written out after I acted some of it.

Now, despite the fact that I do act my stories, there is something very similar with every time I do act.  I have a plot that I end up keeping.  I have an end, and a beginning, but no middle.  That is where I improvise, aiming for the end of the story, but unsure and not caring which road to take in between.  It is like I want to go from my house to the library.  I can drive over there, walk, take different routes, bike, etc; there are different paths to the same place.  When I let the characters drive the story, it is like I roll a number on a die and I follow them to the destination of my choice.  But that is a different conversation for a different day.

Why do I reveal my process?  First off, I think it is a good thing for other writers and authors and others to use, or copy from.  And it's not like I'm giving away my ideas, I'm only giving away how I take my ideas and put them into paper or computer.  So, there you have it, another update soon.